Misinformation spreads across the globe, but most of the evidence on why people believe false claims — and what helps them to identify misinformation — comes from studies conducted in the U.S. and a handful of other Western countries.
A recent study published in Nature Behavior set out to fix that problem. Cornell psychology researchers David Rand and Gordon Pennycook, with 11 colleagues across the globe, ran the same experiment with nearly 35,000 people across 16 countries on six continents. They set out to examine the reasons people believe misinformation — and which tools work best to counter misinformation. The study was named the Behavioral Science & Policy Association’s 2026 publication of the year.
Conducted in 2021, the study focused on misinformation about COVID-19. The pandemic offered a unique opportunity because it is one of the only topics for which the same true and false claims circulated throughout the world. This allowed the research team to make a cross-cultural comparison using a shared set of facts and falsehoods.
Participants were divided into groups with different approaches to statements about COVID-19. Researchers asked them to rate the accuracy of the headlines or indicate if they would share them. Participants who were randomized to the sharing outcome had to either evaluate the accuracy of a non-COVID-related statement or read simple digital literacy tips before deciding whether to share the statement.
Researchers found large variations across countries in how likely participants were to believe false statements about COVID-19. For example, people in India were twice as likely to believe a false claim than people in the United Kingdom.
Overall, people from individualistic countries – with core values of self-reliance and individual autonomy – were better at discerning true statements from falsehoods. But in each country, researchers identified one trait that predicted people’s ability to separate true facts from misinformation: a tendency toward analytical thinking rather than following a gut feeling.
“Pretty much everywhere we looked, people who were better critical thinkers and who cared more about accuracy were less likely to believe the false claims,” Rand said.
People who valued democratic norms also tended to be better at spotting misinformation. In addition, those who said they would definitely not get vaccinated against COVID-19 were 52.9% more likely to believe misinformation compared to participants who said they would get vaccinated.
What about sharing misinformation?
Although the vast majority of participants said they valued accuracy, those values didn’t play out in their actions during the study. Across the globe, 79% of participants said it was very or extremely important to share only accurate news. But by the end the study, researchers found that 77% of participants had shared misinformation as part of the experiment.
The disconnect likely comes from people’s attention to detail, Rand explained. “A lot of it is people just not paying attention to accuracy,” he said. “In a social media environment, there’s so much to focus on around the social aspects of sharing — how many likes will I get?, who else shared this? — and we have limited cognitive bandwidth. People often simply forget to even think about whether claims are true before they share them.”
The researchers found that reminding participants to pay attention to accuracy — such as asking, “Where did this come from?” and “Is this actually true?” — and sharing simple digital literacy tips helped to prevent them from sharing false information
The take-home message: Misinformation is a global problem, but evidence shows that teaching people to think more analytically is the best way to combat it across cultures. Brief reminders to pay attention to accuracy represent an effective way to prevent people from sharing misinformation.
